Latch



p 937. J. J. MCCULLOCH ETAL 2,094,547

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Patented Sept. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES LATCH John J. McCulloch and Henry A. Hinricks, Pomeroy, Iowa Application September 7, 1935, Serial No. 39,584

2 Claims.

This invention relates to latches, and more particularly to latches of that type wherein the functions of handle and latch are combined in a single assembly especially adapted for use on 5 doors of barns, sheds, garages, shops, and on similar hinged closure members, and has as an object to provide an improved latch of the character set forth.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved latch of the character described susceptible of facile installation on closure members to provide a latch-operating handle on each side of such closure member.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved latch and handle assembly susceptible of operative installationon closure members irrespective of the thickness of said members or the relative position or direction of opening motion of the free margin of such members.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved latch and handle assembly operable to latch a closure member in either open or closed relation with the opening served thereby.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved latch and handle assembly that is simple and inexpensive of manufacture and installation, positive and efiicient in operation, durable in use, and adapted to specific application throughout a wide field of varying constructions.

7 Our invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in our claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of our .improved latch operatively installed on a conventionalized closure member, dotted lines indicating the released position of the latch member and certain portions of the showing being broken away to conserve space. Figure 2 is a plan View,

partly in section, of the showing of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail section on the indicated line 33 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail section on the indicated line 4-4 of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a detail plan, partly in section and on a reduced scale, illustrating the manner, in which the improvement functions to latch its closure member in open position.

In the construction of the improvement as shown, a co-nventionalized closure member, such as a door or the like, is designated generally by the numeral I0 and is shown in closing relation with an opening formed in a conventionalized wall construction I I, said closure member having one margin hinged, as at l2, to the wall, for

engagement of the free margin of said member against a fixed stop I I carried by the wall I l all of which is common and well-known practice.

Adjacent and spaced somewhat from the free margin of the closure member I0, a straight bore is formed perpendicularly through said member 5 to loosely receive a straight rod l3 extending through and projecting at each end beyond said member. A pair of bearing plates i l, each formed with a central hole of a size to fit closely about the rod 83, is arranged one on each side of the 10 member ill in fixed covering relation with the ends of the bore therethrough and receive the rod 53 throughtheir alined holes, thus mounting said rod for rotation and axial reciprocation relative to the closure member it) and bearing plates M. 15 On the latch side of the closure member it], the rod is is bent through anangle of substantially ninety degrees, closely adjacent the bearing plate M, and extends for a relatively short distance parallel with the surface of the closure member 20 in the direction of the hinged margin of the latter, then is curved outwardly from the said closure member through an angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees to provide a handle of the closure member and extending toward the free margin thereof, which handle portion I 3a terminates short of. the free margin of the closure member in a ninety degree bend wherethrough the rod' I3 is directed perpendicularly toward the 30 closure member'until closely adjacent the latter, when a reverse ninety degree bend positions the terminal portion of the rod H3 in spaced parallelism with the handle portion l3a to provide a latch bar I31) closely adjacent the surface of the clo- 35 sure member Ill and extending axially across the free margin of said member. The bearing plate 54 on the latch side of the closure member is formed with a marginal web M extending perpendicularly outwardly from the surface of the 4 closure member, which web is positioned to be intersected by the rod is adjacent the bend first above recited and is formed with a marginal notch arranged to receive that portion of the rod i3 parallel with the closure member surface and 5 most nearly adjacent the bearing plate I l, thus holding said rod it against axial motion through the closure member while permitting limited rotation thereof relative to said member. That portion of the rod l3 on the stop side of the closure 50 member extends perpendicularly from said member for a distance, then is bent through an angle of ninety degrees toward the free margin of the said member to form a handle portion I30 thus positioned in spaced, parallel relation with the 55 adjacent surface of the closure member, both handle portions I3a and I30 being thus available to rotate the portion of the rod l3 journaled through the closure member and bearing plates and thereby move the latch bar I31) through a limited arc along the free margin of the closure member. A limiting guide for the latch bar i3?) is formed as an angle plate l5, one web of which is secured to the closure member I8 so as to position its other web in alinement with and projecting outwardly from the free margin of said closure member, said projecting web being formed f' with a longitudinal elongated slot [6 wherethrough the latch bar l3b loosely extends for guided oscillation between the end limits of said slot. A retractile coil spring I1 is secured at one end to the latch bar I3badjacent the slot I8 and has its other end clamped under one of the screws or bolts whereby the angle plate I5 is mounted on the closure member, so that said spring acts to yieldingly hold the latch bar 13b against one limit, preferably the upper end, of the slot I6. For engagement by the latch bar I312, a strike plate I8 is fixed to the wall i l closely adjacent the upper portion of the angle plate I5, said strike plate 3 being illustrated as an angle plate disposed with one Web secured to the wall and the other web projecting at right angles therefrom to lie parallel with and close .to the slotted web of the angle plate I5, the projecting Web of the strike plate I8 extending outwardly beyond the parallel web of the angle plate I5 and being formed with an inclined lower margin leading to an undercut or notch registering with a portion of the slot l6 wherein the latch bar 13b may be received when the closure member is closed, the inclined margin of the strike plate being positioned for engagement by said latch bar as the closure member approaches closed position and acting to move said latch bar against the pressure of the spring I! to permit full closing of the closure member, said spring retracting to bring said latch bar into latching engagement with the notch of the strike plate when the closure member engages its stop II. Manual pres sure applied to either of the handle portions l3a or I30 in a direction to move the latch bar it!) against the tension of the spring I! acts to disengage said latch bar from the notch in the strike plate, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1, and permit opening of the closure member. Holes I9 are formed in outer corners of the slotted web of the angle plate l5, one of which, in any given installation of the device, is arranged to register with a similar hole 25 formed in the notched web of the strike plate I8, said registering holes being thus positioned in closely adjacent relation when the closure member is closed and latched so that locking means, such as the hasp of a padlock, may be inserted through the registering holes to securely lock the closure member in its closed position. A second strike plate, l8, identical with the strike plate I8 save in that the mounting web of the angle extends oppositely from the notched web, is included in the assembly of the improved latch so that the assembly may be operatively installed irrespective of the location or direction of opening of the free margin of the closure member, and said second strike plate may be mounted on the wall I I in position to engage and latch over the handle portion I3a when the closure member is in full open position, as is indicated in Figure 5, thus providing means for positively latching the closure member in either its closed or open relation.

As will be clear from the foregoing, the improved latch may be reversed, inverted, and variously combined with the strike plates for operative installation onclosure members hinged for actuation through either verticalor horizontal arcs, the spring I'I being connectible with either end of the guide plate I 5, thus providing a simple and efficient latch assembly having a wide range of useful application.

Since changes in the specific form, arrangedescribed may be had without departing from the spirit of the'invention, we wish to be understood 1 as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

We claim'as our invention- 1. In a closure member latch, a combined handle and latch bar unit formed from a cylindrical rod of uniform diameter, said unit comprising an intermediate straight portion perpendicularly and rotatably intersecting a closure member, a terminal portion bent to extend at right angles from said intermediate portion to form a handle in spaced, parallel relation with said closure member, a second handle portion extending from said intermediate portion parallel with said first handle portion on the other side of said closure member, an offset adjacent the free end of said second handle portion arranged to position said free end as a straight latch bar extending beyond the margin of the closure member in the plane of and parallel with said handle portions, an offset in the plane of said handle portions adjacent the junction of said intermediate portion and one handle portion, bearing plates rotatably supporting said intermediate portion on opposite sides of said closure member, and a notched web on one of said plates slidingly engaged by said offset to limit axial movement of said intermediate portion relative to said closure member.

2. In a closure member latch, a combined handle and latch bar unit formed from a cylindrical rod of uniform diameter, said unit comprising an intermediate straight portion perpendicularly and rotatably intersecting a closure member, a terminal portion bent to extend at right angles from said intermediate portion to form a handle in spaced, parallel relation with said closure member, a second handle portion extending from said intermediate portion parallel with said first handle portion on the other side of said closure member, an offset adjacent the free end of said second handle portion arranged to position said free end as a straight latch bar extending beyond the margin of the closure member in the plane of and parallelwith said handle portio=ns, bearing plates rotatably supporting said intermediate portion on opposite sides of said closure member,

a notched web extending outwardly from one of .ment and combination of the elements shown and 

